in 1976 ronald reagan told stories about the so-called welfare queen in an effort to scare white voters. and the very same lee atwater made the willie horton ad a key part of george h.w. bush's 1988 bid for the white house. and in 2012 the same ugliness took center stage in the gop primary. >> we know president obama is the best food stamp president in american history. >> i don't want to make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money. i want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money. >> you're doing it because you care about america. paul and i have not promised you a bigger check from the government. >> as atwater said, the message is coded. but what he's getting at is crystal clear. joining me now is toure, host of "the cycle" here on msnbc, and the man who tracked down the atwater tape, james carter iv. he's an opposition researcher and the grandson of president jimmy carter. thank you both for coming on the show. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> james, first of all, tell us how you got your hands on this tape. >> well, i started looking for it a